Czechoslovakia was once described by a Conservative Prime Minister as "a faraway country of which we know nothing".

Many may feel similarly about Georgia. But the frontiers of today's Europe now stretch to the Black Sea. Britain's energy supplies depend on a narrow pipeline stretching from Azerbaijan across Georgia to Turkey.

The failure of foreign policy in the 1990s led to a million or more people from Balkan states flooding into northern Europe as asylum seekers, many heading for our shores. As jihadi militant Islamism seeks new terrorism bases further east, Britain's security now requires engagement in the troubled arc of instability from eastern Turkey to the states of the Caucasus and all the countries ending in "-stan".

Into this stew pot, Vladimir Putin has dropped – literally – a bombshell. By ordering a full-scale military invasion – tanks, artillery, special forces and warplanes – of Georgia, he has revealed the true face of Russia under his increasingly autocratic rule. By flying in person to the scene as if he was field commander-in-chief, he is showing the world that Russia will revert to being a military power willing to bully and threaten its neighbours.

Two months ago, I asked Russia's EU ambassador at a conference in Paris who was in charge of Russia's foreign and defence policy. After a moment's hesitation, he replied: "The constitutional position is clear. It is the president of Russia."

One can only feel sorry for the hapless Dimitri Medvedev, the junior placeman installed as President of Russia by Putin who stepped down to the theoretically inferior position of Prime Minister. Like Stalin, who never had a grander title than General Secretary of the Communist Party, we now see a new Russian "Voshd" – chief or caudillo – totally in charge in Moscow. Poor President Medvedev promised Russian support at the G8 for strong UN language on Zimbabwe only to be disowned on return to Moscow. Today, Putin shows who is running Russia.

To be sure, the efforts of the democratically-elected government in Tbilisi to establish its control over all of its territory was clumsy. South Ossetia has been promised full autonomy with respect for its Russian culture and languages – the same as say a Catalonia with Spain or the French-speaking cantons within Switzerland. But this was not acceptable to the Kremlin which has a group of corrupt cronies in place in South Ossetia where business deals are controlled by Moscow-oriented local politicians.

Russia has never accepted the loss of the old Soviet empire. Like British Right-wingers who dreamt of the days when the union flag fluttered over parts of the world where English was spoken, the Russians still feel they lost status when the end of communism forced the Kremlin to disgorge the Baltic states, Ukraine and Georgia.

Russia under Putin now has energy wealth and thus the money to spend on arms and aggressive foreign policy. Moscow continues to bluster and threaten the Baltic states, has cut off energy supplies to countries it wants to lean on and, as Britain knows, has bullied the British Council and stopped BP and Shell from normal commercial operations.

And there is the Alexander Litvinenko murder in London where the response of Putin was to put the man Scotland Yard wanted to question, into the Duma with the immunity of an MP.

At the United Nations, Russia sabotages efforts to solve the Kosovo problem and lined up with Robert Mugabe against the wish of the world's democracies to put international legal pressure on the African tyrant.

In other international bodies, the Russians refuse to co-operate, except on their own terms. The most bizarre example is the Council of Europe which admitted Russia as a member, but so far Russia refuses to accept the authority of the European Court of Human Rights. Conservative MPs sit in the same group as Putin's stooges and Tory MPs even tried to install a Kremlin placeman as President of the Council of Europe last year.

In contrast to the Conservatives cuddling up to the bear, David Miliband, Britain's Foreign Secretary, has been commendably firm in the Commons on Russia showing a steel hand behind his boyish smile.

But Britain alone cannot face down the new Russian authortarianism and aggression. This requires a united response from Europe. Unfortunately, too many Right-wing governments in today's EU appear to want to give Putin the benefit of the doubt.

This allows Moscow to divide and play with different European positions. The idea of a common foreign policy and the means to implement it in the Lisbon Treaty are anathema to Eurosceptics, but a disunited EU will be easy meat for a united Russia and leave America without a partner of weight to face down Russian bullying.

The bloody assault unleashed by Putin adds new dangers and difficulties to Europe. Once again, Russia threatens peace, stability, rule of law and the right of sovereign democracies on its border to live the lives their people want.


Denis MacShane is Labour MP for Rotherham and was Minister for Europe under Tony Blair.